I did not realize that diseased animals were processed into pet food. My
question for the group is, how harmful is this practice? I realize that the
thought can only make us shudder, but is such food, as repulsive as it is to
us, ok for pet cats?

I don't want to start a religious war on what to feed our cats, but I do
want advice.

Here's the story: A cow with mad cow disease was discovered at a pet food
company in Texas. I don't suppose the company is at fault, as it caught the
problem and properly reported it. The NY Times story suppresses the name of
the company, but a Reuters article names Champion Pet Foods of Waco, TX.

Please read, and tell me what you think.

Dick

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/30/national/30cow.html

June 30, 2005
Case of Mad Cow in Texas Is First to Originate in U.S.
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
The cow that was found last week to have mad cow disease spent its whole
life in Texas, making it the first domestic case of the disease, the United
States Department of Agriculture said yesterday.

Dr. John Clifford, chief veterinary officer for the department's animal
health inspection service, said DNA tests had traced the herd the cow was
born in. The animal was about 12 years old and did not leave the ranch where
it had been born until it was taken, near death, to a pet food plant in
Waco, Dr. Clifford said.

The animal's age made it likely that it was infected before the 1997 ban on
feeding protein from ruminants like cows and sheep to other cattle, he said.

The Food and Drug Administration, he said, will check the feed logs from the
ranch where the cow was raised and the processing records of plants where
that feed was made to see that the ban was complied with.

The Agriculture Department is now trying to trace any animals born on the
ranch in the same year or in the years before or after, as well as any
offspring of the cow born in the last two years. All will be tested for the
disease, which will mean killing them because parts of the brain must be
scooped out to do the tests.

Dr. Clifford would not identify the ranch, calling that "privileged
information." Nor would he name the pet food plant, explaining that the
department relied on the voluntary cooperation of such plants for brain
samples. They specialize in turning diseased, dying and dead animals into
pet food or into dried meal for poultry and pigs, as well as into tallow,
gelatin and other products.

It is too early to tell what effect the announcement will have on beef
sales. On Saturday, after it became clear that the United States had a
second case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and
that it did not originate in Canada as the first had, Taiwan reimposed a ban
on American beef it had lifted two months ago.

But domestic beef sales and futures prices have remained relatively steady.

Asked whether any other states might ban imports of Texas cattle, Dr.
Clifford said he hoped not. "It wouldn't make sense with the safeguards we
have in place," he said.

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas issued a statement urging citizens to remain calm
and be reassured that they could trust the state's beef.

"I, for one, will continue to eat red meat, and intend to do so later
tonight with complete confidence," Mr. Perry said. He later issued a revised
statement that dropped the reference to his dinner plans but added that
Texas beef was "as safe today as it was yesterday."

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